Multistage compressor and method for controlling the same for an air conditioning system with limited space

Abstract

Multi-stage compressor, comprising: a compression module configured to compress a refrigerant therein by reciprocating a plurality of pistons (110) provided in a front housing (100), a rear housing (300) connected to the front housing (100) to define an interior space between the front housing (100) and the rear housing (300), a partition plate (200) located between the front housing (100) and the rear housing (300) to divide the interior space between the front housing (100) and the rear housing (300) into a front space (130) and a rear space (350), and a partition wall (310, 320) connected to the rear housing (300) to divide the rear space (350) into an injection space (351) before the refrigerant injected therein is primarily compressed, a primary outlet space (352) from which the refrigerant is discharged in a primarily compressed state by some of the pistons (110), and a secondary outlet space (353) from which the primarily compressed refrigerant is discharged in a secondarily compressed state by some of the pistons (110), characterized in that the partition wall (310, 320) further comprises: an integral partition wall (310) integrally connected to the rear housing (300), and a fluid partition wall (320) rotatably connected to the rear housing (300) for varying the number of cylinders of each piston (110) used for primary compression and secondary compression.

Description

The present invention / disclosure relates to a multistage compressor and a method for controlling the same.The cycle (e.g., the working cycle) of a typical air conditioning system (e.g., an air conditioner) is divided into single stage compression and multi-stage compression.A conventional single-stage compression air conditioning system performs a cycle in which the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by a compressor (e.g., a compressor) discharges heat to the outside while passing through a condenser to condense into a low-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant and then expand into a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant via a detector such as an expansion valve, and absorbs / absorbs heat from the outside in an evaporator to return to the compressor after realizing the cooling.Moreover, a conventional multi-stage compression air conditioning system is typically a two-stage compression system. The two-stage compression system has a configuration in which a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion valve are sequentially added, a gas-liquid separator (e.g., a gas-liquid separator) is added, and the wiring and piping are complicated in the one-stage compression air-conditioning system.The conventional multi-stage compression air conditioning system has advantages of increasing a circulation rate of the refrigerant, increasing a volumetric efficiency (e.g., a volumetric efficiency) of a compressor, and reducing an outlet temperature (e.g., a discharge temperature) as compared with the single-stage compression air conditioning system. A multi-stage compression system has been developed and used for a typical building air conditioning system.However, for a limited space air conditioning system such as a vehicle air conditioning system (e.g., an automobile air conditioner), only a single stage compression system has been developed and used without using the bulky multi stage compression system therefor. From DE 101 01 975 A1 a multi-stage compressor according to the preamble of claim 1 is known.Therefore, a technology using the multistage compression system for the space-limited air conditioning system is needed.Accordingly, the present invention / disclosure has been made in consideration of the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present invention / disclosure describes a multistage compressor capable of including the functions of a first and a second compressor to be driven / operated in a limited space and a method of controlling the same.This object is achieved by a multistage compressor according to claim 1. according to the present invention / disclosure, a multistage compressor includes: a compression module configured to compress therein a refrigerant by reciprocating a plurality of pistons provided in a front housing; a rear housing connected to the front housing to define an internal space therebetween; a partition plate located between the front housing and the rear housing to partition the internal space between the front housing and the rear housing into a front space and a rear space; and a partition wall connected to the rear housing to partition the rear space into an injection space before a refrigerant injected thereinto is primarily compressed into a primary outlet space, From which the refrigerant in a primary compressed state is discharged / discharged through some of the pistons and into a secondary discharge space from which the primary compressed refrigerant in a secondary compressed state is discharged / discharged through some of the pistons, the partition further comprising: an integral partition integrally (e.g., integrally, e.g., integrally) connected to the rear housing, and a fluid partition rotatably connected to the rear housing to vary the number of cylinders of each piston (e.g., the number of pistons) used for the primary compression and the secondary compression.The front housing may be connected to a power source to drive and reciprocate the pistons. For example, a swash plate may be connected to a shaft connected to the power source to drive and reciprocate the pistons.The front housing, the separator plate, and the rear housing may be connected to each other with a head bolt (e.g., by a).The partition plate may be formed with a plurality of inlets and outlets for introducing the refrigerant located in the rear space into the front space or discharging the refrigerant located in the front space into the rear space.The rear housing may be formed with: an external discharge port for discharging the secondary compressed refrigerant to the outside; and an external introduction port for introducing (e.g., introducing, e.g., injecting) the gaseous refrigerant, which is condensed and then primarily expanded, into the primary discharge space.The multistage compressor may further include a driving unit rotatably connected to the rear housing to rotate the fluid partition wall during driving / driving, and a control unit configured to control the driving unit based on the pressure of the primary or secondary discharge space.The drive unit may include a shaft (e.g., a shaft) rotatably and integrally connected to the fluid partition wall, an actuator for rotating the shaft during driving / driving, and a bearing for supporting rotation of the shaft while fixing the shaft at a certain position and supporting a weight of the shaft and a load applied to the shaft.The control unit may control the driving unit to be operated / driven with the number of cylinders of the piston (e.g., the number of pistons) for the primary compression preset as a first number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space exceeds a predetermined range value (e.g., a predetermined value).The control unit may control the driving unit to be operated / driven with the number of cylinders of the piston (e.g., the number of pistons) for the primary compression preset as a second number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space is within the predetermined range value (e.g., within the predetermined range of values), and the second number may be larger than the first number.The control unit may control the driving unit to be operated / driven with the number of cylinders of the piston (e.g., the number of pistons) for the primary compression preset as a third number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space is less than the predetermined range value (e.g., value), and the third number may be greater than the second number.In accordance with another aspect of the present invention / disclosure, a method of controlling the multistage compressor according to the above aspect includes: detecting the pressure of the primary or secondary discharge space; and controlling the driving unit based on the pressure of the primary discharge space or the pressure of the secondary discharge space that has been determined upon detecting the pressure of the primary or secondary discharge space.The controlling the driving unit may include controlling the driving unit to be driven / operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (e.g., the number of pistons) for the primary compression preset as a first number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space exceeds a predetermined range value (e.g., value).The controlling the driving unit may include controlling the driving unit to be driven / operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (e.g., the number of pistons) for the primary compression preset as a second number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space is within the predetermined range value (e.g., within the predetermined range value), and the second number may be larger than the first number.The controlling the driving unit may include controlling the driving unit to be driven / operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (e.g., the number of pistons) for the primary compression preset as a third number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space is less than a predetermined range value (e.g., value), and the third number may be greater than the second number.As is apparent from the above description, the multistage compressor is effective / effective in that the number of parts / components of the multistage compressor can be reduced by incorporating the functions of the first and second compressors, thereby reducing the volume of the multistage compressor and simplifying the wiring and piping.It is possible to reduce the cost due to the number reduction of the parts / members of the multistage compressor.The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention / disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an overall configuration of a multistage compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention / disclosure, FIGS. 2 and 3 are views illustrating a component of the multistage compressor according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure, FIG. 4 is a partial structural assembly view according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure, FIG. 5 is a control flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure; and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a multi-stage compression-cooling cycle (e.g., compression-air-conditioning cycle) according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure.In the specification of the present invention / disclosure, the terms such as "first / r / s" and / or "second / r / s" may be used to describe various elements / components of the present invention / disclosure, but these elements / components are not intended to be limited by the terms. In other words, such terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one element / component from other elements / components of the present invention / disclosure. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention / disclosure, a first member / members may be referred to as a second member / members, and likewise, a second member / member may be referred to as a first member / member.It will be understood that when an element / component is referred to as being "coupled" or "connected" to another element / component, it may be directly coupled or connected to the other element / component, or intervening elements / components may also be present. On the other hand, it is understood that when one element / member is referred to as being "directly coupled" or "directly connected" to another element / member, there are no intervening elements / members present. Other phrases for describing relationships between elements / components, for example, "between" and "immediately between", or "adjacent" and "directly adjacent", may also be interpreted in the same manner.The terminology used in the specification is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention / disclosure. As used in the disclosure (e.g., specification) and the accompanying claims, the singular forms "a / r / s" and "the / s" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It is further understood that the terms "comprise" and / or "comprising," when used in the specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers (e.g., integers), steps, operations, elements / components, components, and / or groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more features, integers (e.g., integers), steps, operations, elements / components, components, and / or groups thereof.Unless otherwise defined, all terms, including technical and scientific terms, used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. It is further understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having the meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant technology (or technical field of view) and the present invention / disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined in this document.A controller (controller) (e.g., controller) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention / disclosure may be implemented by a processor (not shown) configured to execute the operation / operation described below by using an algorithm configured to control the operation of various components / components of the vehicle or a nonvolatile memory (not shown) configured to store data related to software instructions for reproducing the algorithm and data stored in this memory. Here, the memory and the processor may be implemented as separate chips. Alternatively, the memory and the processor may be implemented as a single chip (e.g., a single chip) and are merged together. The processor may take the form of one or more processors.Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present invention / disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts / components throughout the embodiments of the present invention / disclosure.FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an overall configuration of a multistage compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention / disclosure. FIGS. 2 and 3 are views illustrating a component of the multistage compressor according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure. FIG. 4 is a partial structural assembly view according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure.Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the multistage compressor according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure includes a compression module for compressing a refrigerant therein by reciprocating a plurality of pistons 110 contained in a front housing 100, a rear housing 300 connected to the front housing 100 to define an internal space therebetween, a partition plate 200 located between the front housing 100 and the rear housing 300 to partition the internal space between the front housing 100 and the rear housing 300 into a front space 130 and a rear space 350, and a partition wall connected to the rear housing 300 to partition the rear space 350 into an injection space 351 before the refrigerant injected thereinto is primarily compressed into a primary outlet space 352, from which the refrigerant in a primary compressed state is discharged / discharged by some of the pistons 110, and into a secondary discharge space 353 from which the primary compressed refrigerant in a secondary compressed state is discharged / discharged by some of the pistons 110.The front housing 100 of the present invention / disclosure may include a refrigerant injection port (e.g., a refrigerant introduction port) 120 for injecting (e.g., introducing) the refrigerant into the rear space 350 of the rear housing 300. The front housing 100 may be connected to a power source to drive / operate the pistons 100. For example, a swash plate may be connected to a shaft connected to the power source to reciprocate the pistons 110. The front housing 100, the partition plate 200, and the rear housing 300 may be connected to each other with a head bolt (e.g., by). The primary compression and the secondary compression are performed simultaneously by the reciprocating motion of the pistons 110 of the compression module, for example.The partition plate 200 may be formed / formed with a plurality of inlets and outlets for introducing / introducing the refrigerant located in the rear space 350 into the front space 130 and / or discharging the refrigerant located in the front space 130 into the rear space 350. The outlets and the inlets are in a single plate (e.g., in a single plate), and the outlets may allow the compressed refrigerant to flow / out into the rear space 350, while the inlets may allow the refrigerant to flow into the front space 130 prior to the primary compression and the refrigerant prior to the secondary compression.Further, referring to FIG. 4, the rear housing 300 may be formed with: an external discharge port 340 for discharging the secondary compressed refrigerant to the outside; and an external introduction port (e.g., injection port) 330 for introducing / injecting the gaseous refrigerant, which is condensed and then primarily expanded, into the primary discharge space 352.Specifically, the external outlet port 340 is connected to the outside in the secondary outlet space 353 in which the refrigerant is secondarily compressed, for example, with a condenser in a refrigeration cycle (e.g., refrigeration cycle, e.g., air conditioning cycle). The external introduction port 330 may allow the gaseous refrigerant that is / is primarily expanded by a gas-liquid separator (e.g., a gas-liquid separator) to be introduced into the primary compression space to mix with the primary compressed refrigerant for secondary compression, thereby increasing the efficiency / efficiency of the multistage compression.FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a multi-stage compression-cooling cycle (e.g., compression-air-conditioning cycle) according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure.Referring to FIG. 6, the refrigerant after the second compression is introduced / introduced into the gas-liquid separation device via a first expansion valve TXV_ 1, so that the liquid refrigerant is introduced / introduced into a second expansion valve TXV- 2 and the gaseous refrigerant is introduced / introduced into the primary discharge space 352 via the external introduction port 330.Further, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the bulkhead may further include: an integral bulkhead 310 integrally (e.g., integrally, e.g., integrally) with the rear housing 300 and a fluid bulkhead 320 rotatably connected to the rear housing 300 to vary the number of cylinders of each piston 110 (e.g., the number of pistons 110) used for the primary compression and the secondary compression.Specifically, the angle of rotation (e.g., the rotation angle) of the fluid partition 320 may be restricted by the integral partition 310, and the number of cylinders of the piston 110 may be varied depending on the angle of rotation (e.g., the rotation angle).For example, in the case where the total number of cylinders of the piston 110 (e.g., the total number of pistons or piston cylinders 110) of the compression module is seven, when the angle of rotation of the fluid partition 320 at the reference point is fifty degrees (50°), a two-cylinder piston 110 may be used for the primary compression and a five-cylinder piston 110 may be used for the secondary compression. When the angle of rotation of the fluid partition 320 at the reference point is one hundred degrees (100°), a three-cylinder piston 110 may be used for the primary compression and a four-cylinder piston 110 may be used for the secondary compression. When the angle of rotation of the fluid partition 320 at the reference point is one hundred fifty degrees (150°), a four-cylinder piston 110 may be used for the primary compression and a three-cylinder piston 110 may be used for the secondary compression.The multistage compressor may further include: a driving unit 400 rotatably connected to the rear housing 300 to rotate the fluid partition wall 320 during driving / driving; and a control unit for controlling the driving unit 400 based on the pressure of the primary discharge space 352 or the pressure of the secondary discharge space 353.The drive unit 400 is rotatably connected to the rear of the rear housing 300 and an actuator 420 is connected to the control unit to act in response to the control signal of the control unit.In particular, the drive unit 400 may further include a shaft (e.g., a shaft) 410 rotatably and integrally connected to the fluid partition 320, an actuator 420 for rotating the shaft 410 during driving / driving, and a bearing 430 for assisting the rotation of the shaft 410 while fixing the shaft 410 in a certain position and supporting a weight of the shaft 410 and a load applied to the shaft 410.The fluid partition 320 is connected to the front side of the shaft 410, the actuator 420 is connected to the rear side of the shaft 410, and the bearing 430 is coupled between the actuator 420 and the rear housing 300. Consequently, it is possible to support / support the shaft 410.As an example of connecting / coupling the shaft 410 and the fluid partition 320, the shaft 410 may have a uniform polygonal cross section so as to be integrally press-fitted into the center hole of the fluid partition 320, thereby allowing the fluid partition 320 to rotate together with the rotation of the shaft 410. In addition to the joining method, the shaft 410 and the fluid partition wall 320 may be / are joined together in various ways.The control unit may control the drive unit 400 to be operated / driven with the number of cylinders of the primary compression piston 110 preset as a first number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353 exceeds a predetermined range value (e.g., value). The control unit may control the drive unit 400 to be operated / driven with the number of cylinders of the primary compression piston 110 preset as a second number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353 is within the predetermined range value (e.g., range of values). The control unit may control the drive unit 400 to be operated / driven with the number of cylinders of the primary compression piston 100 preset as a third number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353 is less than the predetermined range value (e.g., value). The second number may be greater than the first number and the third number may be greater than the second number.For example, when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353 is preset in a range of 1.5 to 3 or less, the first, second, and third numbers are preset for the number of cylinders of the piston 110 to be "two", "three", and "four", respectively, and the number of cylinders of the piston 110 is controlled to be "two", "three", or "four" according to the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353, the control unit rotates the fluid partition wall 320 according to an example of the fluid partition wall 320 by the control of the drive unit 400.By the control of the control unit, it is possible to increase the driving efficiency / efficiency of the piston 110 of the compression module.FIG. 5 is a control flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention / disclosure.Referring to FIG. 5, the method of controlling the multistage compressor according to the present invention / disclosure may include a detection step (S 10) of detecting the pressure of the primary discharge space 352 or the pressure of the secondary discharge space 353, and a control step (S 20, S 30) of controlling the drive unit 400 based on the pressure of the primary discharge space 352 and / or the pressure of the secondary discharge space 353 determined in the detection step (S 10).The detector in the detection step (S 10) is installed in each of the primary outlet space 352 and the secondary outlet space 353 in the rear housing 300 and is connected to the control unit.The control step (S 20, S 30) may include: a first driving control step (S 21) for controlling the driving unit 400 to be driven / operated with the number of cylinders of the primary compression piston 110 preset as a first number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353 exceeds a predetermined range value; a second driving control step (S 31) for controlling the driving unit 400 to be driven / operated with the number of cylinders of the primary compression piston 110 preset as a second number, when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353 is within the predetermined range value (e.g., range of values), and a third driving control step (S 41) of controlling the driving unit 400 to be driven / operated with the number of cylinders of the primary compression piston 110 preset as a third number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space 352 and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space 353 exceeds (or is less than) the predetermined range value. The second number may be greater than the first number and the third number may be greater than the second number.

Claims

A multistage compressor comprising: a compression module configured to compress a refrigerant therein by reciprocating a plurality of pistons (110) provided in a front housing (100); a rear housing (300) connected to the front housing (100) to define an internal space between the front housing (100) and the rear housing (300); a partition plate (200) located between the front housing (100) and the rear housing (300) to partition the internal space between the front housing (100) and the rear housing (300) into a front space (130) and a rear space (350); and a partition wall (310, 320) connected to the rear housing (300) to partition the rear space (350) into an injection space (351) before the refrigerant, The device according to the invention is further configured to be compressed primarily, for example, by injecting the refrigerant into the device into a primary outlet space (352) from which the refrigerant in a primary compressed state is discharged through some of the pistons (110), and into a secondary outlet space (353) from which the primary compressed refrigerant in a secondary compressed state is discharged through some of the pistons (110), characterized in that the partition wall (310, 320) further includes: an integral partition wall (310) integrally connected to the rear housing (300); and a fluid partition wall (320) rotatably connected to the rear housing (300) to vary the number of cylinders of each piston (110) used for the primary compression and the secondary compression.The multi-stage compressor of claim 1, wherein the multi-stage compressor is part of a vehicle air conditioning system.The multistage compressor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the separation plate (200) is formed with a plurality of inlets and outlets for introducing the refrigerant located in the rear space (350) into the front space (130) and / or discharging the refrigerant located in the front space (130) into the rear space (350).The multistage compressor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rear housing (300) is formed with: an external discharge port (340) for discharging the secondary compressed refrigerant to the outside; and an external introduction port (330) for introducing the gaseous refrigerant, which is condensed and then primarily expanded, into the primary discharge space (352).The multistage compressor according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a drive unit (400) rotatably connected to the rear housing (300) to rotate the fluid partition wall (320) during the driving.The multistage compressor according to claim 5, wherein the drive unit (400) further comprises: a shaft (410) rotatably and integrally connected to the fluid partition wall (320); an actuator (420) for rotating the shaft (410) during driving; and a bearing (430) for assisting the rotation of the shaft (410) while fixing the shaft (410) at a certain position and supporting a weight of the shaft (410) and a load applied to the shaft (410).The multistage compressor according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising a control unit for controlling the drive unit (400) based on the pressure of the primary discharge space (352) and / or the secondary discharge space (353).The multistage compressor according to claim 7, wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive unit (400) to be operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (110) for the primary compression preset as a first number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary discharge space (352) and the pressure of the secondary discharge space (353) exceeds a predetermined range value.The multistage compressor according to claim 8, wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive unit (400) to be operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (110) for the primary compression preset as a second number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary discharge space (352) and the pressure of the secondary discharge space (353) is within the predetermined range value, and wherein the second number is larger than the first number.The multistage compressor according to claim 9, wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive unit (400) to be operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (110) for the primary compression preset as a third number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary discharge space (352) and the pressure of the secondary discharge space (353) is less than the predetermined range value, and the third number is greater than the second number.A method for controlling the multistage compressor according to claim 5, the method comprising: detecting (S10) the pressure of the primary discharge space (352) and / or the pressure of the secondary discharge space (353); and controlling (S20, S30) the driving unit (400) based on the pressure of the primary discharge space (352) and / or the pressure of the secondary discharge space (353) which was / have been determined upon detecting (S10) the pressure of the primary discharge space (352) and / or the secondary discharge space (353).The method according to claim 11, wherein the controlling (S20, S30) the driving unit (400) comprises: controlling (S20, S30) the driving unit (400) to be operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (110) for the primary compression preset as a first number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space (352) and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space (353) exceeds a predetermined range value.The method according to claim 12, wherein the controlling (S20, S30) the driving unit (400) comprises: controlling (S20, S30) the driving unit (400) to be operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (110) for the primary compression preset as a second number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space (352) and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space (353) is within the predetermined range value, the second number being larger than the first number.The method according to claim 13, wherein the controlling (S20, S30) the driving unit (400) comprises: controlling (S20, S30) the driving unit (400) to be operated with the number of cylinders of the piston (110) for the primary compression preset as a third number when the pressure ratio between the pressure of the primary exhaust space (352) and the pressure of the secondary exhaust space (353) is less than a predetermined range value, the third number being greater than the second number.The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein controlling the multi-stage compressor comprises air conditioning the interior of a motor vehicle.

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